A Ghost's Return
by Ranowa Hikura
Summary: Casey's return in my 'Gone' fic. Quick little oneshot involving Abbie and Serena. No I don't own anything, quit asking!


Hey, you guys! Guess what? I got inspired and decided to write this little oneshot here, because you know what I'm posting next? My 'Gone' sequel! Second in my series 'From LA to New York, it's all the Same.' ...terrible name, right? Sorry, couldn't think of anything better. Anyway, this takes place right as Casey's arriving in NY after coming out of Witness Protection. Enjoy and look forward to that sequel, which I'll be posting as soon as I'm finished!

Casey took a deep breath as she stepped off the plane, breathing in the New York air. It was probably just her imagination, but she felt like she could taste the difference between New York pollution and Los Angeles pollution.

Shaking her head, she limped into the airport, sport's bag slung over her shoulder- it had very little in it. Everything she had owned before her 'death'... truthfully, she had no idea what had happened to it. She was only twenty nine and had never written out a will, so she wasn't sure what had happened to it. Her money was in an FBI account and she'd be getting that back soon, but all other possessions had probably just been left in her apartment. Olivia may have taken them, or perhaps sold them, if they were too painful to keep.

She tried to shake off the guilt as she made her way through the crowds, finding herself searching for any familiar faces. Did this person know she was a ghost, did that one? Did anyone recognize her as the phantom woman who'd been killed six months previously?

It was past midnight, though, and people were far more concerned with getting to where they were going so they could sleep than looking around to see if anybody in the airport was supposed to be dead. Still, it didn't stop Casey from examining each face she saw, which did earn her several suspicious looks and a couple uncomfortable smiles. Suddenly, a familiar Texan drawl made her head snap up and her face light up in excitement. "Serena, hurry your ass up! I'm not waiting here all night!"

She gasped in happiness when she saw Abbie Carmichael shouting at another old friend, Serena Southerlyn, who was trying to juggle two cups of coffee, a suitcase, and a dress bag. Casey walked up behind Serena, unable to hold back a huge smile as she asked, "Need any help with that?"

Serena glanced over her shoulder and said, "No thanks, I'm... I'm... uh..." she trailed off, her small smile fading as she stared at Casey in shock. Casey smiled slightly, trying to tamp down on her jangled nerves as the ADA fumbled for something to say. "Um, no," she finally said. "I'm, uh, I'm fine. Sorry, you just look like someone I used to know."

Serena was turning around again, her gaze downcast when Casey reached out and grabbed her shoulder. "No, Ser, it really is me. I'm Casey Novak."

Serena hesitated before shaking her head, her mind rebelling against the ghost standing in front of her. "No, you're not. You have blonde hair, Casey had red. Casey's dead. You're just some weird sicko. ABBIE!" she shouted over her shoulder. "We're leaving NOW! New York is full of freaks!" Serena tried to hurry away towards the Texan attorney, who hadn't noticed Casey yet, ignoring the former redhead hurrying behind her.

"Hey, come on, give a ghost a little credit!" she called. "It's not my fault my hair isn't red anymore! Come on, Serena. You have to remember me! You know all those parties you went to during college? I was the one that stopped by after work and drug your buzzed out ass back to our dorm. You can't tell me you don't remember that?"

Serena paused, then turned around just as she reached Abbie and looked her over uncertainly. Abbie's impatient expression faded away as she examined Casey for a moment, then just shook her head, coming to the same decision Serena had and that this woman wasn't Casey, she just looked like her. Serena asked, "So, if you really are Casey, then what the hell happened? We thought you were dead, and I'm still not convinced you're really Casey!"

"That car bomb you all thought killed me? Well, the feds got to it before I did and shipped me off to LA as Olivia Bell and dyed my hair because, and I quote, 'redheads are too recognizable.' Hell. But, anyways, the guy who planted the car bomb is dead. The feds just let me out of Witness Protection, and... now I'm back."

Both Abbie and Serena watched her suspiciously before the former asked, "What did we do for your last birthday, what defense attorney thinks the three of us and Detective Benson have a foursome once every week, and what did you tell me the last time we had sex? And, I'm warning you, if the answer to any of these questions is wrong, I will beat the truth out of you, Texas style."

Casey laughed, unable to hold back a smile as she shook her head and answered, "Went and got drunk, which we all regretted the next day at work, Trevor Langan- of course- and, Abbie, we've never had sex, you just keep asking. And I always say no, that I'm with Olivia."

"Damn, it is her!" Abbie exclaimed, then reached over fondly and embraced her. "Hell! I never thought I'd see _two_ ADAs disappear off into Witness Protection. You know that the SVU spot has become known as haunted? Two ADAs in a row to 'die' doing it- Branch had to bribe someone to take it on full time. He asked me, I refused. Well, actually, I told him to go to hell."

Casey chuckled. "I'd expect nothing less from the Texan who asked me to sleep with me after five minutes of conversation... come on. It's midnight, so nobody will be in the squad room, and if I go knocking on their doors I'm liable to be met with a gun to my face. Let's go catch up."

Abbie and Serena nodded excitably, then followed Casey out of the airport. "So, what are you two doing here anyway?"

"Oh, I had to go to a wedding in Oregon. Abbie here offered to pick me up at the airport... well, offered is the wrong word, I kind of said I'd pay here if she drove me home."

"Damn straight. I'm not doing anything for free," Abbie chuckled before glancing back at Casey and asking, "What's up with your leg, Novak? Last time I checked, you didn't have a cast on it."

Casey laughed. "That would be because last time you checked, I was dead. But, to answer your question, car crash. Those Californians can't drive- although New York isn't much better, in that respect."

They all agreed on that fact while they piled their luggage into Abbie's car. "So," Casey asked, "any new places open up around here while I was down in LA? From what I remember, you had three choices: places where there you had a high probability of being shot, insanely over priced, or junk food. None of those really sound appealing at the moment."

Serena chuckled. "Nope, still the usual options. It's only been six months, Casey, not six years! Nothing's really changed that much. Although you're gonna have hell to answer to when SVU finds out you're still alive."

Casey sighed unhappily. She really was looking forward to seeing all her old friends again, though she was worried how they would react when they found out she had been alive for these past six months.

Shaking herself off that line of thought, Casey made herself focus on her two friends. She hadn't been home for six months and now that she was, she wasn't going to spend time worrying about how her old friends would accept her. "Yeah, I know. Well, lets go to a Starbucks or something. For once, I want to hear what you guys have to say and not just get drunk with you."

The trio walked across the street to a Starbucks, Casey looking around in awe, like a child going to Disneyland for the first time. New York really was the same. Same buildings, same sights, same friends. Same crime rate, same pollution, same horrible traffic. Similar to LA, but this city had her friends.

Serena, Abbie, and Casey ended up sitting around a table in the mostly deserted cafe, talking about their experiences the past six months. "Well, your funeral had a pretty good turn out," Abbie said, ignoring the strange looks it earned her from everybody who heard. "All your friends from SVU, some from the DA's office."

"Abbie, you choose some really odd things to talk about, you know that, right?"

Abbie just rolled her eyes. "What? Haven't you always wanted to know what your funeral would be like?"

Casey and Serena glanced at each other before the former shook her head slowly and said, "Um, no, not really. I think that's kind of creepy- but I'm not here to talk about what my funeral was like! I'm here to know what's been going on these past six months that I didn't know about. Everyone still alive and well? My SVU detectives still kicking ass? YOU guys still kicking ass? And who's my replacement?"

Chuckling, Serena replied, "Well, your SVU team is still together. No real changes- Munch is still a crazed conspiracy theorist, Fin still finds the very sight of him irritating, Liv is still breaking hearts all over Manhattan by turning down offer after offer after offer, and Elliot's still throwing tables at people. Same old, same old. And what do you expect from us, Casey? Of course we still kick ass!"

"And your replacement's Toni Walker- after all the rumors flying around that your position was haunted, Branch could only get a rookie to take it on; someone who hadn't heard all the stories. I can't tell you how much fun Serena and I had when we told her about you and Cabot. When she found out you were 'dead'... well, you're not dead, but, the point is, she nearly threw up."

Casey chuckled, shaking her head. Of course Serena and Abbie would of given her replacement a hard time. When the Texan asked what she'd been busying herself with these past six months, she groaned, exasperated, and said, "Well, I've been Ms. Olivia Bell, high school English teacher. People who do that willingly deserve to be honored as saints- it has got to be the worst job I have ever had. I had more fun waiting tables during college than working with those little demons."

The two burst out laughing, shaking their heads at her. Abbie snorted and said, "Casey Novak, a teacher? I'm not seeing it. You probably yelled _objection!_ every time one of them said something stupid."

Casey hesitated, than laughed and gave in. "Well, all right," she chuckled, "maybe I did have to fight the urge once and a while, but... come on! I went from prosecuting rapists to staring at boring ninth graders all day. I had to find something to amuse myself with!"

"Oh, of course you did... hey, now that you're back in New York, our lesbian ADA threesome is complete again! When we thought you were dead, every time Serena and I hooked up, we got too sad to do anything. You dying ruined everything!" Abbie accused.

"Oh, have a little tact, Abbie. Casey was all alone down in LA and you're complaining because her death made us sad- god, it feels weird saying that, knowing that you're not dead!"

Casey just laughed at the two. "I think you mean 'our lesbian ADA twosome', because I never had sex with either one of you. And I'm sorry, Abbie, I never realized what impact my fake death would have on you." They all laughed again, falling back into their old routine as the teenage cashier finally let his curiosity get the best of him and he hurried over to them.

"Um, I'm sorry for eavesdropping, but I couldn't help but notice that you kept mentioning her funeral- am I missing something here, or is she a ghost, or... what?"

Casey burst out laughing, dropping her head onto her arms and muffling her chuckles in her sleeve. "Yeah, kid," she gasped when she could breathe again, "I'm a ghost. Run along and tell your little friends you're talking to a dead woman. While you're at it, why don't you stop by the mental asylum and check yourself in?"

"Jesus, kid, their ain't no such thing as ghosts," Abbie chimed in.

"But then why did you keep saying that she was dead?" The kid challenged, the look on his face clearly showing that he thought he was being oh so clever. The three women laughed, glancing at each other and rolling their eyes.

Casey sighed, then said then said, "Long story, kid… How about this, if you call me Casey and leave us alone, I'll kiss you?"

The kid let out a high pitched giggle and clapped his hands together excitably, prompting the trio to laugh again. "Deal!" he exclaimed, a wide, expectant smile spreading across as Casey groaned again. "So I just have to call you Casey and promise to leave you alone? All right then, _Casey,_ kiss me!"

She laughed at his ridiculous expression, then stood up and kissed him for a second. When she had pulled away, she raised an eyebrow and backed up when she saw his awed grin. "That... was... _fantastic!"_ he gasped.

"It was one kiss, don't make it out to be a bigger deal than it is. Plus, you'd said you'd leave us alone." Still in shock, the kid stumbled away, and Casey chuckled and shook her head. "Stupid teenagers," she muttered under her breath. At Serena's and Abbie's confused looks, she exclaimed, "What? I've missed being called Casey!"

They chuckled at her again and returned to their discussion, catching Casey up on the past six months. The redhead let her gaze drift to out to the window.

Heavy traffic at nearly one in the morning. Tall women in skintight mini skirts mingled among people wearing huge jackets to hide their supplies of guns and drugs. Always crowded, no matter what time of night. The city that never sleeps.

LA wasn't much different from NYC, really. But when Casey glanced back at Abbie and Serena, she realized the difference.

LA was just another city. This one had her friends in it.

I know her homecoming would of most likely been sadder than this, but I wanted to give you guys a happy oneshot. And, of course, a cheesy ending. I still can't write endings! RAWR! I also never watched the mothership so I don't know what Serena or Abbie's characters are really like. Please review


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